Customer Reviews

I Dream Too Much [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forget the plot, Henry Fonda and the rest of the cast. Listen to Lily Pons sing "The Jockey on the Carousel". Unforgettable! The blues number "I got Love" is amusing too as Pons's French accent mangles the lyrics but that last note she hits is extraordinary. Jerome Kern wrote the songs and the score should be better remembered. There is also an early appearance by Lucille Ball who is shrill and funny.

Thank goodness we have this film memorial of Lily Pons.

Husband Fonda pushes his wife, Pons into a singing career. Although reluctant, she gives it her best shot, and becomes a great success. This sours Fonda, a struggling opera composer, so Pons uses her influence in order to get Henry's opera turned into a hit musical comedy... Once this is accomplished, Pons retires from the spotlights in order to raise a family. in Because MGM was successful in making Grace Moore a movie star, RKO wanted to follow suit with their contract player, French soprano Lily Pons: the result wasn't entirely in vain. This film featured up-and-coming 30 year-old Fonda in his first non-bucolic screen role. In the minor part of Gwendolyn Dilley (!) Lucy had her second featured-player role & 20 years later she would buy RKO studios!

When I first saw the movie of "I DREAM TOO MUCH" back in 70's,Lily Pons inspired me to make believe I can be someday then ten years later I became a dancer,actor because of her. Even though I'm in my 30's now so that mean I was 14 years old when I saw that movie.

A classic love story presented with charming speed and directness, set with beautiful music, song, dance. Lily Pons IS the heroine, a spontaneous French girl, not just a "voice"; and Henry Fonda plays the young composer with zest. I hope it will soon become available at amazon.com.

The music score is great. Lily Pons, of course, was a real singer and she performs Jerome Kern's music beautifully. As to Kern's music in this film, I think I am safe in asserting that no one alive today and working in the theater or films is capable of writing music such as this. (Kern wrote the production "numbers," the incidental music was set by Max Steiner.) The film was obviously gotten together to showcase Lily Pons, so it's no surprise that along with great music and great singing we have a contrived and sometimes silly story. Not so bad, however, that we can't stand it for the sake of the music.

Unfortunately, the transfer to VHS is very poor. This tape was produced as part of a set of all the films in which Lucille Ball had appeared. In this movie, she has a bit part as a bored, gum-chewing American teenager dragged by her parents into sight-seeing Paris. It was Lucille Ball's first appearance on film. So the transfer was dutifully made to fill out the Lucille Ball collection, but those who produced this tape apparently felt no need to attend to the sound track, a great shame considering the quality of the score and the singer.

The sound transfer is particularly bad in the lavish, climactic last number. There is a break in the film/sound track that will knock you up alongside the head.

There is no great acting in this film, but it's all decently good except for Henry Fonda's astonishingly mediocre performance. He is wooden when he is not over-acting, with the result that his character is cardboard. Lily Pons was a singer, but she carries off her part with creditable acting skill. Some of that credit is no doubt due to director John Cromwell, who was known to have a peculiar talent, like George Cukor's, of drawing the best from actresses. Too bad he couldn't get more out of Fonda. Osgood Perkins and Eric Blore do much better in their supporting roles.

Four stars for the sake of the music. As to the quality of the transfer to tape, you'll just have to hold your nose. We can dream of a day when someone will restore this film and issue it on DVD. That's probably dreaming too much.

Excellent movie for entire family.Cute love story,and very
funny.